This time around it was Imran Khan's turn as he had to listen to all the slogans which he had used against his rivals in the past, as the joint opposition blamed him for the "IMF-dictated, anti-poor, and pro-businessman" budget. Before making it to the power corridors, PM Khan had a track record of accusing past government of making anti-poor policies, pushing the country into the clutches of international monetary agencies through borrowing, and giving relief to big business tycoons.
But the man who hated all these "bad things" was reminded of his tall claims about getting the country rid of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), providing relief to the poor, increasing education and health budgets, social sectors' reforms and turning the country into a tourism hub, etc, as there was nothing worth mentioning in the budget for 2019-20. The joint opposition led by Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif entered the hall. All the members remained quite calm during the first thirty minutes of budget speech read out by State Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar and then surrounded the dais of the Speaker.
This promoted the treasury members to stand guard around the Prime Minister as opposition MPs spread just before his chair, and started full-throated slogans of 'go Niazi go' - a slogans which PM Khan had frequently used against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. In retaliation, some treasury members especially women also brought in some placards inscribed with slogans 'chor machaye shor (the thief is boisterous about the malaise of thief').
The opposition lawmakers kept chanting slogans - throughout the budget speech of State Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar - by holding placards inscribed with "IMF's budget not acceptable," "stop economic murder of people," "go Niazi go," and "clerk of IMF," etc. The Prime Minister who arrived before the joint opposition entered the hall, kept smiling in response to the slogans against him and his government policies. The opposition MPs also tore budget documents and threw them into the air over the chair of the Prime Minister, leaving his party ministers with no option but to catch them in the air to avoid embarrassment.
The attendance remained quite thin in a house where the opposition members surpassed the number of the treasury members.
The overall environment of the House remained quite tense throughout the budget speech of the minister but things changed and brought smile on the faces of the protesting opposition MPS after the jubilant Prime Minister left the House while flashing victory sign at opposition.